Macbeth
A tragedy by William Shakespeare
Who was William Shakespeare?




A poet, dramatist,
and actor.
Lived most of his
younger life in
Stratford upon Avon
There he met and
married an older
woman named Anne
Hathaway.
He had three children,
but his son, Hamnet,
More about Shakespeare…




To help support his family, Shakespeare
moved to London.
Here he became a playwright for hire.
He also co founded a theater company
called The Globe Theater
While in London, Shakespeare also
engaged in many extra marital affairs
Macbeth


Set in Medieval
Scotland
Major themes:




Revenge
Ambition
Greed
Pride
Major Characters




Macbeth, begins a
general and becomes
something greater
Duncan, begins as king
and then is murdered
Banquo, begins as a
general and becomes a
traitor?
The Three Witches,
control the mystical
happenings in the play
Other Characters





Lady Macbeth, controls her husband until
she can’t even control herself
Lady Macduff, has no faith in her husband
Macduff, the Thane of Fife and Macbeth’s
foil character who stands for
righteousness
Malcolm, eldest son of King Duncan
Donalbain, younger son of King Duncan
The Plot…or at least the good stuff!



The play opens while
Scotland is at war, both
civil and with Norway.
The Thane of Cawdor has
become a traitor and
joined the Norwegians.
The war is ending
because of the amazing
military leadership and
fighting prowess of
Macbeth, the Thane of
Glamis, and Banquo
More plot…




King Duncan honors
Macbeth’s victory by
awarding him a new title
He then decides to honor
Macbeth by having
himself as well as all his
entourage visit Macbeth’s
castle in Inverness
Macbeth meets the three
witches, who are all
plotting his downfall.
They put dastardly
thoughts into his mind
Plot…




Many evil events
occur
No one knows who to
trust
Murders, intrigue, and
vaulting ambition are
what then happens.
It all culminates in a
battle most foul.
What is a motif ?


A motif is a recurring subject, theme,
idea, etc., esp. in a literary, artistic, or
musical work
Motifs in Macbeth:





Manhood
Light versus Dark
Nature
Masks
Paradoxes
Rhythm and Meter



Iambic pentameter is a type of meter
that is used in poetry and drama.
The basic meter of all sonnets in English is
iambic pentameter
It describes a particular rhythm that the
words establish in each line.
Rhythm and Meter



That rhythm is measured in small groups
of syllables; these small groups of
syllables are called 'feet'.
The word 'iambic' describes the type of
foot that is used.
The word 'pentameter' indicates that a line
has five of these 'feet'.
Iambic Pentameter




An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable
followed by a stressed syllable. We could
write the rhythm like this:
Da/DUM
A line of iambic pentameter is five iambic
feet in a row:
daDUM/daDUM/daDUM/daDUMdaDUM
Iambic Pentameter





We can notate this with a '˘' mark representing
an unstressed syllable and a '/' mark
representing a stressed syllable. In this notation
a line of iambic pentameter would look like this:
˘/˘/˘/˘/˘/
Example:
Shall I/ compare/ thee to/ a sum/mer’s day
Thou art/ more love/ly and/ more temp/erate
What should I be paying attention
to?





Watch for the role of
women in this play
Watch for what the lust
for power and prestige
can do
Be mindful of the role of
nature
Observe the use of the
supernatural
Remember this is one of
Shakespeare’s bloodiest
plays, so watch the
mounting death toll.